"We are using this time to tend to routine maintenance, updates and renovations along the tour route to ensure the guest experience is top notch," she said in a statement last month.

Tours, which are self-guided and last about 45 minutes, must be requested through members of Congress. A call placed Monday to the District of Columbia Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's office found the soonest available tour to be in June.

Several people in the crowd Tuesday told the press pool that they made the request in December from their congressional offices, but they didn't find out until last week that they got tickets.